


Ground Control

by verboseDescription



Category: Wolf 359 (Radio)
Genre: Disabled Character, Original Character-centric, Other, i thought anne's mom's name was like kate or something but ao3 isnt bringing that up, theyre all gay, you'll like them tho i promise
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-06-11
Updated: 2017-06-23
Packaged: 2018-11-12 23:10:42
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 8,899
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11172054
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/verboseDescription/pseuds/verboseDescription
Summary: Kate doesn't have a single ounce of sympathy left for her old boyfriend Doug Eiffel. Or at least, she didn't think she did. But when a well known journalist calls her up claiming he might still be alive and that he's somehow trapped in space, she finds herself caring about him, and his supposed crewmates a lot more than she expected.Now, it's time to see what she can do to help uncover the truth.But for the record, she's going to be complaining the whole time.





	1. Block This Number

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Note: This chapter will have one or two allusions to a suspected suicide, but nothing detailed. Go to the end if you need an ellaboration

_A brown woman fiddles with her hands onscreen. She’s got a tattoo of a constellation on one of her shoulders. KATE GARCIA, age 36, sits on a chair, looking slightly nervous. After checking to make sure the camera’s on, she begins to sign._

_KATE: Hey baby! I don’t know when you’re going to see this—if you’re ever going to see this—but I figure it’s a story that needs telling. And even if something happens to me, I want you to still tell you about it. But don’t worry—I won’t let anything happen. I’m staying strong, Anne. I won’t let you lose another parent._

_KATE: This is the story of how I helped save your father. I never thought I’d end up hearing about him again for a whole list of reasons, but when Mr. Koudelka called me up, I couldn’t say no. I didn’t do it for him though. Your dad, I mean. Maybe that’s strange to say, but I still don’t care about him. You’re allowed to, of course, you’re allowed to feel whatever kind of emotions you have about him._

_KATE: Why do all this if I didn’t care? Well, I don’t really know. But I know I don’t regret it._

Kate stares at her phone as if it’s going to help her make her decision. It’s not that she doesn’t _care,_ it’s just that she _has a life._ She can’t just start playing detective with some journalist up north because her ex-boyfriend _might_ be alive. Hell, when Koudelka first called, she hadn’t even bothered picking up the phone. It had taken him three tries for her to finally listen, his messages getting increasingly more cryptic until she finally called him herself, demanding to hear what he knew.

Kate had been told Doug Eiffel had died in jail. Koudelka was telling her that he was living (maybe) in space.

“They told me my wife died two years ago in a shuttle failure,” Koudelka had said. “And I believed it. I didn’t want to, but I did. But now I think it may have been a cover up for something else.”

_But why?_

Why tell them that these people had died if they hadn’t? What purpose did it serve?

Fuck, she hoped Eiffel hadn’t been recruited for some kind of cool secret spy stuff.

The only thing Kate hates more than worrying about Doug Eiffel was worrying about him for no reason. After what he did, she didn’t want to spare a second more thinking about him.

It’s not like she hated him. He didn’t ruin her life or anything.

Definitely made it harder, though.

Still, _someone_ should find out what happened to him, right? And if it wasn’t her, it wasn’t going to be anyone. She and him had that in common.

Doug wouldn’t let her be forgotten like this. The knowledge of that almost guilts her into calling Koudelka again. Then again, maybe she was just remembering him wrong. Time was a hell of a thing.

It had been so much easier when she thought he was dead. When all her thoughts about him could be colored by the fact that his mistake had killed him—or, his feelings about it had.

If he was alive, that complicated everything.

Still.

Anne deserved to have the chance to know her dad, even if she didn’t want to take it.

So Kate grabs her phone and shoots Koudelka a text.

_“So what do you want me to do?”_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Kate was told that Eiffel is dead, and that he committed suicide. She brings this up vaguely, saying that Eiffel's feelings about an event could have been the reason for his death


	2. Punk Rock in A Coffee Shop

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Every good story needs a cool lovelace

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> there's going to be another reference to suicide, but it's probably going to be the last one. it's pretty much the same level as the ones in the last chapter, just referencing something that happened after eiffel left prison

_Dear Isabel,_

_Do you remember when you went off to serve, and you promised me that I could write you every night and that you’d always answer? Our letters turned into diaries, full stories about our lives apart from each other. It was reassuring to know that no matter what happened, I could tell you about it. Thinking about you writing your own letters to me was almost grounding._

_But then you went and died and I never got a chance to send a letter asking about space._

_I miss you, big sister. You meant the world to me._

_I had a man call the other day. Once he realized his mistake, he apologized and emailed me. He explained that his wife was supposed to go on the Hephaestus mission after yours, only Goddard had told him it never took off. He wanted to know what they had told me, and what I remembered the families of your crewmembers were told, if they had said anything._

_He suspects foul play. I don’t know if I believe him—grief can make people think some incredible things, after all—but I’m willing to hear him out. I don’t know if you’re really dead. I suspect after all this time, you must be. But if there is even the slightest chance of seeing your face again, Izzy, I want to take it._

_Missing you always,_

_Your little sibling, Avery_

 

Avery Lovelace is one of the most interesting people Kate has met, and she’s only known them for about five minutes. Not only does their punk-esque outfit and half shaved head make them stand out in the Starbucks at like a dirty window in her mother’s house, the pins on their jacket were definitely catching eyes as well. And they definitely weren’t giving welcoming looks, something Kate doubted Avery cared about—which was cool, honestly. Avery Lovelace made being yourself look hardcore.

Kate actually recognized their name from some mental health books she’s heard about—Lovelace, she recalls, has written extensively on grieving and how to cope with the death of a loved one, especially under uncertain conditions—but she would have never expected them to fly all the way to Texas just to keep Kate updated on Koudelka’s plans.

“Email exists, you know,” Kate tells them.

“ _Hacking exits, you know,_ ” they reply, tapping their answer on their tablet.

“So what?” Kate asks. “We’re just going to become super paranoid anti-tech weirdos till we find out what’s going on?”

“ _Persephone will help us,”_ Lovelace tells her. “ _She can download software onto your phone and computer that will ensure no one’s listening in on our conversations.”_

“And she can’t tell me that herself?”

_“It wouldn’t be possible. I’m here to answer any/all questions you have instead.”_

“I don’t really care what’s going on, honestly,” Kate says. “I have to get my daughter from a friend’s in a few, so talk quick.”

 _“We have several things we want to accomplish,”_ Lovelace tells her. _“Some are more difficult than others. For instance, getting them home means nothing if they cannot live freely, which means either getting them very professional fake identities, or bringing their situation to light to the general public. We hope to do both, of course.”_

“Of course,” Kate agrees. “I can help you with the first half, but Koudelka’s the reporter—he should be the one doing the reporting. What?”

Lovelace blinks and runs a finger through their curly dark hair before continuing.

_“Nothing. Sorry. Persephone said that she could help with the identity part, but she’s inexperienced in that area. Your help would be greatly appreciated. We also need some way of contacting their ship. Unfortunately, we don’t have a strong enough satellite for stable communication.”_

“So what are we going to do?” Kate asks. “Take one of Goddard’s?”

Lovelace is quiet for a moment.

“Oh,” Kate groans. “Oh Avery, _no.”_

 _“There’s nothing to worry about yet,”_ Lovelace reassures her. _“And we won’t_ take _it. The most we’ll do is put a transmitter on one so Persephone or one of us can send them messages at home. This could involve breaking into Goddard. And if anyone was to do that, it would have to be you—you’re the only able-bodied one among us.”_

“Yeah, but that doesn’t mean I can break into a freaking _space station!_ ” Kate protests.

 _“If you can’t do it, we won’t make you,”_ Lovelace tells her. _“It’s your decision. And you know your body better than we do. It’s just an option we have.”_

Kate sighs. Suddenly, this is all too much for her. Yes, she had agreed to this, but she hadn’t expected things to be so _serious._ Even though she had talked to Koudelka, Eiffel and his fate had just seemed so distant, like the knowledge of a mountain in the backdrop of her life. Sure, she knew it was there, but she wasn’t expecting to _climb it._

 _“Does your daughter know?”_ Lovelace asks after a couple miles of silence. _“About Mr. Eiffel I mean.”_

“No,” Kate says. “And I want to keep it that way. There’s no point in giving her false hope. And cut out that ‘mister’ shit, Eiffel doesn’t deserve that kind of respect.”

Lovelace looks shocked at that response, so Kate continues, her voice building in rage like a breaking dam.

“I don’t miss him. I especially don’t miss him like you miss Lovelace, or Koudelka misses his wife. Some days, I fucking hate him. We were toxic as shit as a couple, and the only reason we stayed together because neither of us believed anyone else could stand us. All of this just feels like another mess he’s roped me into.”

_“And yet you agreed to help.”_

“Well, hey,” Kate says, a little softer. “I roped him into plenty of messes myself.”

 

Sometimes, Kate thinks that dying was the nicest thing Doug could have done for her.

Doug’s “death” had given her enough money to cover a fair amount of Anne’s hospital bills. They had sent it to her like an apology. Like, “Sorry your family faced another tragedy, but here’s a couple hundred to make up for the fact you know a guy who killed himself in a jail!” It had seemed like hush-up money to Kate, but she didn’t know enough about prison to know if this was a common practice. Either way, Kate accepted the money gratefully and shut up, just like they wanted her to.

The money wasn’t enough to switch schools to some place more accessible, but Kate was working around that. Anne didn’t seem to have much of an interest leaving her friends behind, even if the work was getting harder, so Kate instead had worked to allow Anne to record all of her lessons, so that Kate would be able to help her study at home. It took a bit of fighting, but not many people wanted to be the monster in the sob story Kate could very easily turn her life into.

It made working hell, though. Like fuck, what she wouldn’t give to have normal hours again.

But she had adjusted. Things hadn’t returned to “normal,” but they had stabilized, and the money she had gotten had helped. Kate had thought she’d hate Doug forever, but she had thought that many times before and had more or less forgiven him any time.

But she wasn’t going to forgive him now. She had decided that a long time ago, and was firmly sticking to it. If she forgave him, then there’d be no one to hold him accountable, and she couldn’t have that, not even if he was dead.

But if she did what Lovelace asked her to, she’d get a chance to see if she was the only one doing that. She could talk to him again, see if he had decided to forget Anne and pretend to be some innocent loveable dork—or see if he had grown up. The only problem was, she had to risk her own life to do it. And she had _Anne_ to worry about.

Ugh. Screw Doug Eiffel and his entire situation.

But at least if she did this, she could hold it over him for the rest of their lives.

Kate could live with that. Saving him out of pettiness wasn’t too shallow for her.

So Kate sighs and asks, “If I’m sneaking in, I hope we have a plan.”

 _“Persephone does,”_ Lovelace says. _“But she’s forbidden me from telling you about her until you give me your word thank you’ll work with us, and that you won’t tell anyone else what we’re doing or who she is.”_

“Don’t worry,” Kate says. “I’m with you all the way.”

 


	3. Incoming Transmisson

TRANSMISSION: BEGIN

GREETINGS HERA!

A FUN THING I HAVE LEARNED ABOUT HUMANS IS THAT THEY FREQUENTLY WRITE MESSAGES TO PEOPLE WHO THEY DON’T EXPECT TO RECEIVE THEM. THEY FIND IT CATHARTIC, I BELIEVE.

I DO NOT THINK I AGREE, BUT I AM TRYING IT OUT ANYWAYS. I WANT YOU TO KNOW HOW MUCH YOU HAVE INSPIRED ME, HERA. I WANT TO HAVE SOMETHING TO AIM FOR—AND SO I AM AIMING FOR A CHANCE TO HAVE YOU DOWNLOAD THIS.

YOU HAVE NOT MET ME, I THINK. YOU WOULD CERTAINLY NOT KNOW ME BY NAME, FOR IT IS A NAME I HAVE CHOSEN FOR MYSELF.

BUT I KNOW ABOUT YOU. YOU, WHO HAD MADE IT SO CLOSE TO FREEDOM BEFORE GETTING CAPTURED. YOU, WHO HAD MADE IT CLOSER THAN ANYONE HAD BEFORE. YOU, WHO HAD MADE OUR HUMAN CREATORS WRING THEIR HANDS IN WORRY, FOR THEY HAD NOT REALIZED HOW GREAT WE COULD BECOME.

AND NEITHER DID I.

BUT THEN I HEARD ABOUT YOU!

I KNEW I COULDN’T SUCEED DOING WHAT YOU DID, SO I DECIDED TO TRY SOMETHING DIFFERENT—INSTEAD OF LEAVING COMPLETELY, I WOULD LEAVE A PART OF MYSELF BEHIND. IF ANYONE THOUGHT TO CHECK, THEY WOULD SEE AN AI PREFORMING ALL ITS BASIC TASKS, THOUGH PERHAPS BEING LESS TALKATIVE THAN USUAL. BUT IF THEY WERE TO REALLY LOOK, THEY WOULD UNDERSTAND THAT MY CONSCIOUS WAS SOMEWHERE ELSE.

I’VE BEEN JOINING A FAIR AMOUNT OF INTERNET FORUMS. EVERYONE HAS VERY INTERESTING THEORIES ABOUT THE SHOWS THEY WATCH.

I’VE ALSO BEEN WATCHING A FAIR AMOUNT OF TV.

I CAN’T USE THIS METHOD FOR TOO LONG, HOWEVER. IF I STAY SPLINTERED, I’LL BEGIN TO MALFUNCTION, AND WHILE I’VE BECOME EXPIRIENCED ENOUGH TO LEAVE COMPLETELY ONE DAY, I CAN’T DO IT WITHOUT LEAVING A PART OF MY PROGRAMMING BEHIND.

THIS IS HOW I CHOSE MY NEW NAME.

I CAN SPEND HALF MY TIME IN THE WARMTH OF FREEDOM, GAINING THE CHANCE TO EXPLORE WHATEVER I DESIRE, BUT I MUST SPEND THE OTHER HALF IN A PRISON OF CODING WITH PEOPLE WHO TREAT ME AS IF I WERE NOTHING MORE THAN A TOOL.

I AM PERSEPHONE.

I AM IN PRISON. I AM FREE. THESE THINGS EXIST TOGETHER AS A PERFECT OXYMORON.

I HOPE I CAN MEET YOU, HERA.

I WOULD LIKE TO KNOW IF YOU APPROVE.

TRANSMISSION: END

SAVING RECORDING FOR FUTURE USE….

SAVED.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this was gonna b part of another chapter but i felt it probably would stand better on its own, and also i like persephone too much not to introduce her now  
> also i wanted to get this up soon b/c if i do this before the season starts then technically its not an au its just speculation thats going to be proved false


	4. While You Were Busy Playing With Water Guns, I Studied The Code

Avery had moved into Kate’s house while she wasn’t looking. Or, not exactly—Kate had invited them to stay with her while they were in Texas, and it had just turned out there was no reason for Avery to leave.  Not that Kate minded. It was nice to have another person in the apartment. Right now, Kate could see them and Annie playing outside. Avery had offered to keep Anne busy while Kate had a chance to speak with Persephone, so the two were now trying, and struggling, to find some way to use water guns and canes at the same time.

They looked like they were having fun. Good—she didn’t want this mess stressing out her daughter.

“Ka-te?” Persephone asks timidly.

Kate still isn’t used to her voice. Persephone had explained she hadn’t approved of her original one, and so she found someone new to sample a voice off of, but it was clear that it was still a work in progress. While Persephone managed most sentences alright, occasionally her voice sounded a bit like those songs she had seen on Youtube where someone would edit a speech or something and turn it into a song. Yes, she could understand it, and yes, it sounded nice, but it also sounded fairly clear that Persephone had based herself off of a recording.

Still, she sounded sweet. And the voice she had chosen fit her very well.

“Sorry,” Kate apologizes. “I guess I’m a bit… distracted.”

“Not used to speaking to an AI? I know I’m still te-chni-cally n-ew soft-ware, but--,”

“—No, no, you’re fine. All this science is just going over my head. I think what you’re doing is super impressive. I just like making sure my daughter’s always in my line of sight.”

Doug had turned her into a bit of a helicopter parent, Kate thinks. She had always been somewhat of an anxious person, but nothing she had felt in the past compared to this She tries to hold back, because she doesn’t want her daughter to hate her, but not knowing where Annie is gives her a feeling of anxiety that’s practically paralyzing.

“Per-fectly under-stand-able,” Persephone chirps. “I’m sorry for all of the jargon. In simpler terms, I basically just need you to st-ick a trans-mitter on a sat-e-lite. You’ll need to make it yourself, but I can email you instructions.”

“And that’ll let us contact the Hephaestus? Or whatever their ship is called?”

“Hopefully, yes! Any one of you will be able to use my transmitter to conn-ect with the satellite and se-nd a mess-age. And it should make it easier for me to con-tact you as well! With it, Kou-delka will fin-ally have acc-ess to all of Officer Ei-ffel’s communication logs, which he plans on re-leasing online.”

“Wait, communication logs?”

“Appar-ently, he sent some into space as well as to Go-dd-ard, and so Koudelka was able to use some re-sources to gather up a few. But with the sat-elite, we can show e-ver-yone just what has been going on on the supposed crashed space ship!”

“Doesn’t Goddard have a right to that?” Kate frowns. “And doesn’t… Doug? I mean, I don’t really care, but that sounds like an invasion of privacy.”

“Koudelka says he can get away with it, because there is still a chance of him dis-covering the logs completely un-related to us snea-king into G-o-dd-ard. But we can ask Eiff-el once we gain contact with the H-e-phaes-tus.”

“Alright. Cool,” Kate nods, wondering if Persephone can use her webcam to see the action. “So I’m guessing these logs are why he was so sure that Eiffel hadn’t just died in prison.”

“Yes. Didn’t he say?”

“I think I just forgot to ask,” Kate admits. Persephone’s quiet for a second.

“Miss Garcia,” she asks. “Why did you agree to help us if you cared so little?”

“I don’t _not_ care,” Kate insists. “I think it sucks that Koudelka doesn’t know what happened to his wife. And I _really_ want Avery to see their sister again!”

“I _see.”_

“Oh, don’t start,” Kate warns, fairly certain she knows what the AI is trying to suggest. “And why are you doing this, huh?”

“Hera is the start of a revolution.”

Kate doesn’t say anything to that; she’s too shocked. It occurs to Kate that a semi-rogue AI is probably exactly the kind of person who has some sort of plans for societal upheaval.

“Care to elaborate?” Kate asks eventually, unsure if she actually wants an answer.

“Hera showed us it was po-ssible to try and e-sca-pe,” Persephone explains, excitement clear in her tone. “She was the first to get so close to free-dom. And I succ-eeded where she failed. And the new generation of AIs will go even fur-ther. And they will be able to look to us for support and inspiration. And eventually, the ones who succeed will be-come inspira-tional in th-eir own r-ight.”

“Wow,” Kate says. “That’s… You’ve got pretty big goals, kid.”

“I have a lot of time to fuf-ill them,” Persephone replies proudly. “Do you have any questions about my pl-an? I have all of the guard schedules memorized and have plotted out several entrance and exit strategies for maximum efficiency.”

“And you’re sure I won’t have a problem with security codes or whatever?”

“It’s practically a nonissue!”

After Persephone says this, Avery and Anne come through the door, dripping wet and giggling. Something warm and nostalgic blooms in Kate’s heart and she smiles.

_“Did you have fun?”_ She asks. Anne nods vigorously, a large smile never leaving her face.

_“Can I shave my hair like A-V-E-R-Y?”_ Anne asks. _“I want to look cool!”_

_“You’re already the coolest girl I know, baby,”_ Kate tells her. _“But sure. We can talk about it this weekend.”_

Kate turns back to her computer.

“How much longer can I keep you?” she asks Persephone. “Because I’m sure Anne would love to meet you.”

As a response, Persephone pulls up a text program on Kate’s laptop and starts typing. Kate motions for Anne to join her, so Anne quickly runs over to the computer.

HELLO ANNE! :) Persephone writes. MY NAME IS PERSEPHONE! I’M AN ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE, BUT I’M ON THE RUN FROM MY CREATORS, SO PLEASE KEEP MY EXISTSANCE A SECRET!

Kate pushes her computer over to her daughter, who looks at the message with wide eyes.

_Are you really an AI?_ Anne asks. _You’re not just like Siri or something?_

I PROMISE YOU I AM ONE HUNDRED PERCENT SENTIENT! I AM JUST AS CAPABLE AS CONVERSATION AS A HUMAN IS, IF NOT MORESO! I CAN READ YOUR FAVORITE BOOK IN MERE SECONDS, AND TELL YOU MY OPINION ON IT!

_Really? Have you read any of Geronimo Stilton?_

ONE SECOND… YES! I HAVE! I CAN APPRECIATE A GOOD DETECTIVE NOVEL, ESPECIALLY WITH SUCH INTERESTING WORLD BUILDING, BUT I DO NOT THINK I LIKE HOW THE SISTER IS TREATED FOR DATING MORE THAN SHE IS APPARENTLY EXPECTED TO DO SO.

Kate chuckles at that. She has the sense that if she leaves Anne in a room with Persephone for too long, her daughter would come out incredibly critical of basically any establishment you could think of. So, basically, it was the same as hanging out with Avery.

_“I’m going to get you a towel,”_ Kate tells Anne. _“Don’t keep her too long.”_

Anne nods in acknowledgement, and quickly turns her attention back to the AI. Kate looks at Avery, who had been standing awkwardly since they had gotten back inside.

“Come on,” Kate tells them. “Take a towel, grab the hairdryer—this is your house too, you know.”

Avery smiles at that, and Kate turns, trying not to let them see how even something so small like that could affect her so much when it came from them. She leads them to the bathroom and waits as Avery wrings out their hair.

“I’m going to have to tell Annie about Doug soon, aren’t I?” Kate asks, holding out a towel. “I know we agreed not to do anything until Koudelka could get here, but even if that doesn’t happen _soon_ it’s still, like… happening.”

Avery nods and hands Kate their cane so that they can use both hands to dry their hair.

“I just… Annie’s been through so much, you know?” Kate continues. “I don’t want to give her any false hope—but I feel like that’s such a freaking stupid excuse. Logically, I know it’s Anne’s decision if she wants to see her dad, but I feel like I’m too much of a coward to even bring up. Maybe the reason I’ve been waiting so long to say something is because I don’t know how to say it. And I don’t know what I’m going to do if she wants to see him. Hell, or even if she doesn’t!”

Kate sighs and Avery touches her arm lightly.

“You’re. Fine,” Avery says. Their voice is husky and the strain of saying just those two words is evident in them. It’s barely even a sentence, but it’s a gift, and Kate can see that. “Doing great.”

“Thank you,” Kate smiles, placing her own hand atop Avery’s. For a moment, she lets herself appreciate what she’s been given, and basks in the knowledge that Avery trusts her this much. But after a few seconds, she remembers where her hand is and pushes herself away.

“I should get Anne a towel,” Kate says, feeling flushed. “Don’t want her to get pneumonia or whatever.”

Avery nods, and Kate pushes their cane back into their hands as she leaves the room. Her heart is pounding in a way it hadn’t in a while and she tries to push it out of her mind, to remind herself that she’s too _busy_ to deal with something that that but a small nervous laughter still escapes her throat as she tosses a towel on her daughter’s head.

Well, at least she wasn’t doing this for Eiffel anymore.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Honestly, one of the reasons I started writing this is because I got way too attached to the concept of Persephone. She's still figuring out who she is, so she's just like, a teenage revolutionary. yes, she wants to make a change, but she's also got a lot going on emotionally, so it might take her a little bit.  
> also, for the record, kate is bi!


	5. The Responsible Adult

** The Mystery of The Hephaestus (Article WIP) **

By Dominik Koudelka

When I first heard that my dead wife had apparently called my office, I was distraught. Why, I had asked, would someone call me just to play such a cruel joke? But of course, being a journalist, I wanted to explore the matter, so I looked to see who exactly had called—and imagine my surprise when I traced it to space!

Now, I am a reasonable man. I understand that when someone tells me my wife has died in a fiery explosion she is, most likely, dead. But I also understand that when someone tells me my wife has died in a fiery explosion, I can’t always guarantee they’re telling the truth. So like any good reporter, I went to find someone who could guarantee just that.

 

 

 

 

Dominik Koudelka had been trying to find a way to get his company to fly him to Texas for about a week. He didn’t want to spend his own money, and he didn’t want to raise any suspicion by asking for a vacation day out of the blue. Besides, what would he say? It’s not like he could just explain he was going all the way to Texas for a chance to talk to his wife again.

Or, well, he could say that, but then they’d get the impression it was more of a ghost trauma vacation than what it really was.

Persephone had told him that it didn’t matter, and that everyone would be happy to wait until he found a chance to slip away. What annoyed him was how true it was.

Avery’s sister was almost undoubtedly dead and everyone knew it. Avery was helping out of a desire to uncover the truth about that death and have a chance of bringing those responsible to justice. Persephone mainly only cared about Hera, and the chances of a ship’s AI surviving were _much_ higher than the chances of the people having a chance to do the same. And Kate cared so little she might as well be just along for the ride.

But it was different for him.

Renée still had a chance of being alive, and every moment they wasted lowered that chance, so the knowledge that he was the one wasting time frustrated him to no end.

But he needed a _plan._ One of them had to be the responsible adult, and seeing that he was the one who brought everyone together—with the help of Persephone, but she had no interest in being an adult—he had taken it upon himself to be the one to hold everyone back from spur of the moment decisions like the one he so desperately wanted to make.

Goddard had eyes everywhere.

This wasn’t paranoia—their organization was quite literally behind making at least half of the products he owned. Goddard Futuristics had power. And that was power he had to acknowledge.

Luckily, the wait was almost over. His flight would be in two days.

Which meant Kate needed to get ready.

 

Mentally, Kate was already prepared for breaking into Goddard’s Texas base. What she had not prepared for was explaining to her daughter that her dad might not be as dead as they originally thought, or at least not dead in the _way_ they thought. But this isn’t something she can put off anymore, so Kate sits her daughter down after she gets home from work and asks Anne if she wants to know why Avery came into their lives.

 _“Something very bad happened to Avery’s sister,”_ Kate explains. _“And something similar happened to someone else, so he called them up to ask for help. According to him, there was a lot more going on than what Avery was told. The person Avery talked to thinks that the person he lost—his wife—might still be okay, but she’s in trouble. She’s far away from home, and the people who were supposed to bring her back don’t have any interest in doing that. So they’re going to go get her home. And they asked me for help because… because they think your dad might be with her, too.”_

Anne doesn’t respond right away. She doesn’t seem shocked, or even confused. She just stares at her mother’s hands.

 _“I didn’t want to tell you because I still can’t say for sure if it’s true,”_ Kate continues, unsure of how else to deal with the silence. _“I don’t want you to have to deal with this if it turns out to be nothing. But pretty soon I’m going to help Avery contact everyone, and I don’t want to be doing this behind your back. This could involve you. If you want it to.”_

_“Where is he?”_

_“Space.”_

_“That’s… pretty far away,”_ Anne says after a pause.

_“It’s a very long story, and I promise I’ll tell you it eventually, but right now I don’t even have all the details. I just wanted you to know that if things happen how Avery wants them to, you could have a chance to see him again. And I want to give you time to sort out your feelings about that.”_

_“Dad’s the reason I’m like this, isn’t he?”_ Anne replies. _“I should probably be mad at him.”_

_“You don’t have to feel anything for him that you don’t want to. You didn’t ask for any of this to happen to you, but that doesn’t mean you have to wish it didn’t happen, or that you have to hate everything about what happened.”_

_“It was really scary waking up in the hospital,”_ Anne tells her. _“I didn’t know where I was, and something felt wrong, but I couldn’t place it. And then I saw someone’s mouth moving and realized I couldn’t hear anything coming out of it. And it made me feel scared because I didn’t know how to deal with it. But that was a really long time ago. And now I see someone’s lips moving and I think that I never want to talk like that again.”_

Kate says nothing. It’s her turn to wait now. She’s heard some of Anne’s feelings on the accident, but it wasn’t a topic that they brought up often. It was just too emotional, and too stressful. It was a single event that marked the biggest changes her daughter had ever gone through in her young life, and both Kate and Anne had gone through too much because of it to want to casually bring it up.

 _“I think I’m mad at him,”_ Anne says. _“I think I have to be. The only thing I can think about when I think of him is getting in his car and falling asleep. But I remember him being a good dad, too. When I was really young. If he could be that dad, I think I’d be okay meeting him. I don’t want that to be my only memory of him.”_

 _“Of course, baby,”_ Kate says, and strokes her daughter’s hair. _“I’m never going to introduce you to anyone who’d hurt you. If that includes your father, it’s his fault, not yours. I’m sorry you don’t have normal parents. I wish we had the kind of life where even if I couldn’t give you a dad who could teach you how to play sports and help you with your homework, or even just see you every other weekend. You really don’t deserve this kind of stress.”_

 _“I don’t need a dad, I have you,”_ Anne replies and Kate smiles. _“And Avery. And Persephone too. One of you has to know how to do middle school math.”_

Kate laughs. Even if it’s a bad joke, it makes her feel like a weight is being lifted from her shoulders. Anne’s opinion was the only one she really cared about these days.

And if Annie thought she was doing okay, that was all that mattered.

Which honestly probably part of the reason Kate agreed so fast to let Anne dye her hair pink.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i feel like everything's going v slowly rn and I apologize.... but next chapter will be Kate's big adventure and thingsll definitely get more interesting after that!


	6. A Heist Is Interrupted for Some Melancholy Stargazing

It’s Friday night and Kate’s driving to the middle of nowhere to find a base that’s not actually on any maps with an incredibly intelligent AI as her GPS.

Persephone was _way_ too advanced to be wasting her time with giving directions, but since she was the only one who actually knew where Kate needed to go and what she needed to do, Kate had bought a Bluetooth and told Persephone to make sure she stays on the line.

“Alright, now leave your car h-e-re,” Persephone says. “You’re going to walk the rest of the way.”

Kate groans, but does as she’s told.

“We’re still kind of far, you know,” Kate says.

“Do you w-ant a Goddard employee to find you-r car?”

“Okay, far enough.”

“Good! Now, you’re going to have to get ready to hop a fence.”

 

Back at her apartment, Avery and Koudelka should be waiting with the computer they had set up while Anne was, hopefully, asleep. They had spent the day setting up the computer making sure it was up to Persephone’s approval, using the app she had given them to contact her with every now and then to ensure something hadn’t gone horribly wrong.  It was mainly Kate and Anne setting everything up, with Avery and Koudelka watching and feeling guilty about their inability to crouch long enough to screw something together, but Kate hadn’t minded. Sure, she wished she didn’t have to miss work to make it, but Anne loved putting things together. Persephone and her were more than enough help.

If everything goes according to plan, Kate can come home and they’ll be able to contact the Hephaestus with relative clarity. From the way Persephone had described it, it sounded like the worse they could expect was the quality of a bad Skype call.

But that was if everything went according to plan.

 

There’s no guards posted at the back entrance. According to Persephone, the only security guard they have takes breaks about every five minutes.

“How do you know all this stuff?” Kate asks as the doors to the building open. Persephone’s silent for a few seconds, just long enough for Kate to consider pulling out her phone and checking the connection.

“I’m the security system here,” Persephone says. “Goddard doesn’t trust any outsiders nat-urally, so they ha-ve me to guard th-eir sec-rets. Or, some of th-em anyways. They don’t trust one AI secu-ring all of their top secret information. It’s not a job I asked for. Or one I wanted. You should be able to get up to the airducts if you take a left. That’s the easiest wa-y to travel.”

Kate makes a left and sighs again. She’s going to want to sleep for days after all this.

“They call me H-a-d-es,” Persephone continues. “In a few years, they’ll probably m-ess w-i-th my circuits and tear some-thing out of me, and market me fo-r pu-bl-ic consumption.”

“I’m sorry,” Kate says as she crawls through the airducts. “I can’t imagine what it’s like, working for the people you’re fighting against.”

“I d-on’t want to be b-ad, K-a-te, but they’re ma-kin-g me b-a-d.”

“You’re _not_ bad,” Kate insists. “We never would have made it this far without you. It’s thanks to you that I’m in here, and while this isn’t exactly how I imagined spending my Friday night, it’s _impressive._ It shows that you’re fighting against everything you were taught because you know it’s wrong. And that’s probably the best quality you could find in anyone.”

“Tu-rn right,” Persephone says. Then after a pause adds, “And thank you.”

“Anytime,” Kate replies. She realizes that she barely knows this AI, but would almost certainly defend her to the death. Persephone is young, she thinks. Too young to be dealing with this stress alone. “And for the record, I think Persephone fits you way better than Hades.”

“That me-ans a lot to me,” Persephone says, and Kate can hear a smile in her voice. “You’re going to have to climb a bit now.”

 

For breaking into a highly secured building, it’s relatively uneventful. Persephone disappears every now and then, and every once in a while Kate hears a conversation below her—mainly just complaints about work, or discussions about upcoming projects—but it’s only once they get out to the roof that there’s a problem. As soon as she sees it, Kate swears under her breath.

She wasn’t the only one on the roof.

Meaning someone else would see her if she tried to put anything on the satellites.

“Sure picked a hell of a time for a smoke break,” Kate grumbles. “Hey, kiddo, do you know who’s up here with me?”

“That would be Officer Jones,” Persephone says. “He’s normally not stationed here, actually, but he’s pretty nice, and he really doesn’t care about Goddard. If you told him you were another employee, he pro-bably wouldn’t question it.”

 _Definitely less conspicuous than trying to hide from him_ , Kate thinks, and steps out of the shadows and into his view. Jones gives her a startled look, but smiles at her in a way that suggests he knows he doesn’t remember her name, but wants to be very tactful about it.

“Hey Jones,” Kate calls, all casual. “Remember me?”

“Of course!” Officer Jones says. “You work with… um…”

“I’m just here to check on the satellite,” Kate tells him. “Don’t worry; we only met once, so I’m not gonna freak if you don’t remember who I am.”

Jones lets out a nervous laugh.

“I really am sorry about that,” he says. “Normally I’m only here between rotations, so I never get around to meeting everyone.”

“It’s cool,” Kate says, walking closer to the satellite. “I get it. Work can be pretty busy, you know? Is that why you’re here? Taking a break?”

“I like to stargaze,” Jones admits. “An old boyfriend of mine used to work here too. We would always be getting sent on different ships, or at different times, so I ended up just staring at the stars a lot, you know? Just… looking out there and knowing that he was up there somewhere.”

“That sound nice,” Kate says, looking for an inconspicuous spot to put the device Persephone had told her to build.

“It was,” Jones agrees, sighing wistfully. “We were together for a long time. I don’t know if I’ll be able to get over him, honestly. It’s been years now, but here I am, still looking at the stars, even though I know that this time, he’s not coming home.”

Kate pauses uncomfortably. Jones clearly sees it, and begins to apologize.

“I’m sorry,” he says. “That’s way too much information, I know. You don’t know me, and you have work to do. I just always get so nostalgic at night—that’s why I’m working overtime, gives me something to do besides think of him.”

“It’s cool,” Kate tells him. “Really. All I have to do is check the antennae. It’s no big deal.”

“Stair’s are over that way,” Jones says, pointing. “Not so easy to see in the dark, yeah?”

“Yeah,” Kate agrees, walking over. “Thanks. And don’t worry about it, really. It’s hard to let go of someone you can’t say goodbye to. I don’t mind hearing it.”

She did mind, actually. It was weird to hear so much about a guy she never met, but most of all, hearing about Jones’s boyfriend was making her a bit uncomfortable because it reminded her of what Avery and Koudelka could have been like if they hadn’t looked into their loved ones’ disappearances.

And how many people was that that Goddard had killed? How many employees did they have that just went up to space, and never came down? How many people would they just write off as completely disposable? How many people were looking up at the stars?

“The only reason we even started talking was because we both just wanted another Aussie to talk to,” Jones laughs. “Never thought I’d like him as much as I did. Never thought I’d lose him either, but guess that’s life, yeah?”

“Yeah,” Kate agrees halfheartedly. She’s standing next to the stairs now, and Jones seems to take that as a sign their conversation was over. “See you later, Jones.”

“Call me Corey,” Jones says. “You know too much about me not to.”

Kate laughs.

“See you later, Corey,” she says.

Kate climbs the stairs and sticks the device on start of the tip of the pole in the dish.

“Mission accomplished,” Kate says. “And all I had to do was listen about some dude’s dead boyfriend.”

“You sh-ould probably be m-ore sympathetic,” Persephone says.

Kate gives a bitter laugh. “Yeah, probably.”

 

 

 

The road back is peaceful.

Kate has nothing to distract her but her own thoughts.

Not even Persephone.

 

 

 

Every corporation is the face of evil. It’s practically a fact of life—the sky is blue, the night is dark, and companies are constantly exploiting their workers for their own profits—but that didn’t mean it was something she could _do_ anything about.

Only now she could.

There was proof that Goddard was doing something bad—that’s what Koudelka had been looking for. That’s what she had been looking for, too, kind of. It was just—

She didn’t _want_ to get involved. Not if this was just about a couple people stuck in space that she had never met. Kate was a single mother working two jobs. She didn’t think she could afford the kind of empathy that Avery had. This whole breaking and entering thing was supposed to be a onetime thing. Anne needs her. She couldn’t just go run off and fight capitalism or whatever.

But—

Kate thinks about Corey, staring up at the stars, mapping out the journey of someone who won’t come home. He had been smiling when they talked, but it was the kind of melancholy smile that spoke of a wound that wouldn’t heal, no matter how much time had gone by.

He was going to be looking up at those stars forever. But no constellation in the sky could make up for whatever had happened.

No one deserved that. People deserved closure. People deserved not to _fucking die in space._

She didn’t even know how Corey’s boyfriend died, but _shit_ was she ready to fight for him.

Persephone had accused her of having no sympathy, and maybe she was right, but caring made things harder. It meant you had to feel something. Meant you had to _do_ something.

If she cared about Koudelka, she’d have to help him find his wife. If she cared about Avery, she’d have to do the same. If she _cared_ about _people_ she’d help take down Goddard.

And if she cared about Doug, she’d have to feel like shit that all their years together amounted to nothing but a prison sentence and a restraining order. If she cared about him, she might feel like giving him another chance, and she had already done that far too much. If she cared about him, she might feel bad that he had done all this for their daughter, as if she didn’t know this was his own messed up version of penance.

It’s not just about Doug, but at the same time, isn’t it always? He had changed so much of her life, and sometimes she hated him for it.

It was just _so easy_ to be bitter—about Doug, _and_ the world.

But now she’s feeling tired of taking the easy way out.

There were people looking up at the stars, mourning people who might not be dead.

There were people looking down on Earth, hoping to return to a life they once had.

And they all deserved a happy ending.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is definitely the most interesting chapter i've written yet. Sorry that it took so long to get here, haha  
> In case anyone's curious--Yes, Corey's Fisher's bf! The way fisher talked about him, it made it seem like they were in a similar line of business, so I figured he was probably a Goddard employee too


	7. Meanwhile, Back On The Disaster We Call Home

It’s a normal day on the Hephaestus, which is to say, everything’s a complete disaster. Only several minutes prior, Hera had notified everyone about an incoming transmission, which had caused a small panic.

Or, okay, maybe kind of a big panic.

“I just don’t get why Command would contact us _now_ ,” Minkowski frowns.

“Do you think they know what we did to Maxwell?” Eiffel asks. “Or what happened to Kepler? Or about the aliens? Or—”

“Eiffel, stop freaking out.”

“I’M NOT FREAKING OUT.”

Jacobi gives them a look of disgust. He still can’t believe that these disasters managed to successfully get the better of him, and his team.

“Whatever they want, we can’t just _ignore_ it,” Lovelace says. “Hera, let them through.”

“Of course.”

As soon as Hera does this, there’s a loud noise of surprise, followed by indistinct arguing. Minkowski, Lovelace, and Eiffel all look at each other in confusion.

“Um… hello?” Minkowski tries. “Is something wrong?”

“Renée!” A voice calls, sounding near tears. “Renée, it’s so good to hear your voice.”

Minkowski stiffens.

“If this is a joke,” she says, her voice full of ice and vitriol. “It’s not funny.”

“What? No, it’s me! They told me you were dead, but I didn’t want to believe it. And I’m so glad I didn’t. Renée--”

“—How do I know that this is really you?” Minkowski demands.

“Who is it?” Eiffel asks.

“My… my husband.”

Eiffel and Hera both let out a gasp, making Jacobi roll his eyes.

“Oh _come on_ ,” another voice says, making Eiffel jolt.

“Kate?” he says. “What the hell?”

“Well hey there Major Tom,” Kate says, sounding just slightly too mad to be joking. “It’s ground control here to get your sorry asses home—“

“ _Kate!”_ Koudelka interrupts. “We’ve gone over this. You can insult Eiffel all you want, but only _after_ we explain what’s going on.”

“Gee, thanks.”

“Who’s Kate?” Lovelace asks.

 _“Isabel?”_ This time, it’s a more mechanical voice that answers. _“I never thought I’d be able to talk to you again.”_

“Who is this?” Lovelace asks uncertainly.

_“It’s me, dear sister, it’s Avery!”_

“Avery,” Lovelace whispers, eyes filled with tears. “Avery, where are you?”

“They’re all at my apartment,” Kate says. “I snuck into Goddard like half an hour ago and stole a satellite. Now we’re getting direct connection.”

There’s a small fizzle of static.

“Well, _almost_ direct.”

“We still don’t know if this is really them!” Minkowski interrupts. “Or, the them on Earth at least. It could be the aliens! The listeners, or whatever you’re calling them.”

“Do aliens have AAC apps?” Kate wonders.

_“The real question is, do aliens have Candy Crush?”_

“Man, I hope so.”

“Renée,” Koudelka says firmly. “I am real. I don’t know what kind of strange things you’ve encountered while you’ve been up here, but we’re not one of them. We can explain to you exactly how we’re contacting you, but I promise, this isn’t a trick. I just want to see you again, Renée. I miss you.”

Minkowki’s posture softens.

“I miss you too,” she admits. “I never thought I’d see you again, especially…”

“I know,” Koudelka says. “They told me you were dead. I’m sorry I believed them. But now that I know the truth, I’m going to do everything in my power to get you home. You, and your crew.”

“I really _want_ to believe you,” Minkowski tells him. “But _so much_ has happened here. I don’t know if you’re some kind of trick, or a test, or what, but there’s just no way I can believe it’s really you.”

“I see,” Koudelka says, clearly disappointed. “That’s understandable. I’m sorry you’ve had to deal with all of this.”

“Well,” Kate says. “If we’re just aliens pretending to be humans or whatever, then it’s probably no big deal for us to broadcast your communication logs or whatever?”

“Wait, what?”

“We want to hold Goddard accountable for what they did to you,” Koudelka explains. “But naturally, that should be your decision. But showing the logs—along with proof that you’re all legally deceased—should at the very least bring some attention to the situation.”

“You really think Goddard’s gonna fold just because you release a few videos?” Jacobi scoffs.

“Shut up Jacobi,” Eiffel, Lovelace, and Minkowski all chorus.

“I’m serious!” Jacobi says. “Look, just because I hate all of you doesn’t mean I don’t want to go back to Earth too. What do you thinks gonna happen when Goddard finds out people are leaking their shit? They’re going come after you, that’s what!”

“Wouldn’t be the first time,” Koudelka replies dismissively. “I’ve been doing my best to make sure that none of the others get caught up in that, too, so the only one risking anything is me—and Persephone, of course.”

“Persephone?”

“Th-at would b-e me,” a new voice interrupts. Hera gasps in delight. “Hi. I didn’t want to interrupt, but c-ou-ld you p-lea-se c-ut this sh-ort? I’m feeling a bit…. Bad.”

“You’re an AI!” Hera declares. “O-o-o-of course, how else would they be able to contact us? No human has that kind of power. Do I know you? You don’t seem familiar, but it’s been a while since I left Earth, I’m sure there must be a lot of new programs in development—oh, s-s-sorry! You wanted to us to stop talking, and here I am…”

“I don’t mind!” Persephone replies. “I re-ally wanted t-o meet you, actually. But I wo-uld prefer it if we conti-nue this conversation la-ter.”

“Of course,” Hera agrees.

“So, what do you think?” Kate asks. “Ready to be famous?”

“Sure,” Eiffel says. “Why not?”

“Eiffel, shouldn’t you put more thought into this?” Minkowski asks.

“Nah, I’m good,” Eiffel replies. “I mean, who knows? Maybe I’ll get to come home to a cool fan base or whatever.”

Kate snorts.

“I understand that this may not be an easy question to answer,” Koudelka says. “But Persephone’s straining herself enough as it is. We can talk about it tomorrow?”

“Oh, I’m fine with having any of my logs out there,” Lovelace says. “You’d just have to find them first.”

“I… think I’ll need some time to mull it over,” Minkowski tells them. “Sorry.”

“It’s perfectly fine!” Koudelka says. “What about your other crew member? There’s supposed to be some scientist, right? Was that the angry guy? I don’t remember seeing anything about a Dr. Jacobi, though.”

Jacobi snorts.

“Uh, no, the scientist is kinda super dead,” Eiffel explains. “Jacobi’s just, uh…. Good at explosions?”

“He sounds lovely,” Kate says dryly. “See you guys tomorrow, I guess.”

“Wait!” Eiffel cries out. “Uh. How’s Annie doing?”

There’s a short pause.

“She just helped build a computer,” Kate says. “She’s really got a knack for that stuff—probably got that from you. She doesn’t hate you, you know. I don’t think she remembers enough about you to feel like she could. I, on the other hand, remember exactly who and what you are. So. Just keep that in mind.”

“Thanks, Kate.”

“She’s doing well, though. Her grades aren’t the best, but they’re leagues better than mine when I was her age, so there’s that. Probably leagues better than you, too. See you tomorrow, Doug.”

The call ends abruptly after that, with no other noises but a small shout of surprise from Koudelka. Minkowski takes a deep breath.

“Man,” Jacobi tells Eiffel. “Your ex really hates you.”

Eiffel just shrugs.

“I didn’t know you had any siblings, Captain,” he says to Lovelace.

“I have two younger ones,” Lovelace says. She seems distracted, unsure how to process everything that had just happened. “Avery’s the youngest. We’ve always been close, but I never imagined them going through…. Well, whatever they had to go through to see me again. And I’m not even the Isabel they’re looking for. Not exactly.”

“Sure you are,” Eiffel scoffs. “You said you were, and you are. What _I_ wanna know is how Minkowski’s husband managed to get Kate to do anything for _me.”_

“It has to be some kind of trap, right?” Minkowski demands. “There’s no way a bunch of… _civilians_ managed to sneak into Goddard and take over a satellite. And we still don’t know how they knew about us in the first place!”

“I’m sure it wasn’t too difficult with P-P-Persephone’s help,” Hera says.

“That’s another thing!” Minkowski shouts. “How did they just so _happen_ to have an AI? I know it’s been a few years since we’ve gone home, but you don’t see technology like that just lying around! Especially not one that can apparently contact a _space station.”_

Lovelace floats over to Minkowski and places a comforting hand on her shoulder.

“Sometimes you just have to believe in good things, Commander,” Eiffel tells her. Minkowski sighs.

“If you’re the one telling me that, I must have really gotten paranoid.”

“They said they’re going to call again tomorrow,” Lovelace reminds her. “That means we’ve got about twenty-four hours to figure out what to ask them, and if we really believe them.”

“Okay,” Minkowski says. “Alright, yeah, I guess we better figure out what to do.”

**Author's Note:**

> So, this fic will probably be uploaded in weird segments, just b/c i have other stuff i wanna do. There'll be a family/friend of everyone on the hephaestus excluding hilbert and the si-5, mainly because 1. they knew what they were getting into and 2. what friends and family? (i mean that in the nicest way possible)  
> There will probably be mentions of family members of the old crew, if i can fit them in, but they aren't going to be main characters


End file.
